Rolling pin

ABSTRACT

A rolling pin comprised of a roller, a shaft extending through the roller, and a pair of handles mounted to the ends of the shaft perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the roller. The roller includes a central bore of passageway which loosely receives a straight portion of the shaft and is freely rotatable thereon. The shaft is bent at its ends to position the handles inward of the ends of the roller.

United States Patent [191 Adams 5] Aug. 27 1974 1 RULMNG MN 3,263,2608/1966 Filler 29/1105 x [76] Inventor: .1. Henry Adams, 64 Onyx Ave,

Walla Walla, Wash. 99326 [22] Filed: Mar. 26, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:346,984

[52] US. Cl. 29/1105 [51] lint. (I1. B1151: 1/113 [58] Field 0i Search29/110.5, 110, 116 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS1,247,162 11/1917 Southwick 29/1105 3,157,135 1l/1964 Fetrow et a129/1105 Primary Examiner-Alfred R. Guest Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Wells,St. John & Robert [57] ABSTRACT nal axis of the roller. The rollerincludes a central bore of passageway which loosely receives a straightportion of the shaft and is freely rotatable thereon. The shaft is bentat its ends to position the handles inward of the ends of the roller.

1 Maxim, 1- Drawing Figures 1 ROLLING PIN BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONNo. 1,164,777 granted to E. Aschbacher No. 241,253 granted to G. A.Twele No. 1,247,162-granted to M. E. Southwick No. 1,323,410 granted toS. E. Sams No. 2,725,830 granted to L. Shebesta The G. A. Twele and S.E. Sams patent both disclose a rolling pin having a roller with pinsextending from each end thereof. The pins are journalled in a U-shapedframe, the cross member of which is utilized as a handle. The handle isheld parallel to the roller.

The E. Aschbacher and M. E. Southwick patents teach the use of anl-I-shaped handle frame, rotatably carrying a roller betweenthe openends on one side of the cross member. These patents also include the useof pins extending outwardly from either end of the roller that arejournalled within complementary holes in the handle frame. The handlesof the Southwick patent are mounted as part of the H frame and areperpendicular to the roller. The handles, however are intended to beused as braces against which the user applies pres sure to the rollerwith his forearms while gripping the cross member of the frame in hishands. In the Aschbacher patent, the H frame is closed at one end by theroller and at the other by a second cross bar. The use of this device issimilar to that described above for the Southwick device.

The Shebesta patent shows a rolling pin releasably held by spring clipson a T-shaped handle. The roller again includes outwardly protrudingpegs at either end which are rotatably held by the spring clips.

The apparatus of the present invention comprises a roller which includesa central bore or passageway through which a shaft extends. The rolleris freely rotatable on the shaft. The shaft includes sections outward ofthe roller ends that are bent into a U-shape with handles mountedthereon perpendicular to the roller and spaced inward from the rollerends.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The rolling pin of the present inventionbasically comprises a roller having a circular cross section with apassageway extending end to end therein along the center axis of theroller. A shaft extends through the passageway that includes a straightmid section upon which the roller is freely rotatable. The shaftincludes sections spaced outwardly from the roller ends that lead to endsections which are perpendicular to the roller and which mount thehandles.

A first object of my invention is to provide a rolling pin that isconstructed of a minimum number of parts and is therefore inexpensive tomanufacture and purchase.

Another object is to provide such a rolling pin with a pair of operatinghandles spaced inwardly from the ends of the roller surface to positionthe users hands even with or inward from the ends of the roller.

These and other objects and advantages will become evident upon readingthe following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation view of therolling pin;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pin as seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end view; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along 44 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings ingreater detail, a roller is shown rotatably mounted to a shaft 11 havingspaced handles 12 at the ends thereof.

More specifically, the roller 10 is circular in cross section as may beseen in FIG. 3 and includes substantially flat ends 13. An openlongitudinal bore or passageway 9 (FIG. 4) is formed through the rolleralong its center axis between faces 13. This passageway loosely receivesa substantially straight mid section 14 of the shaft 111. The loose fitof the roller 10 on shaft 11 enables free rotational movement of theroller on the shaft with the circular wall of the passage and peripheryof the shaft acting as bearing surfaces.

The shaft includes outer shaft sections 15 which are spaced outwardlyfrom ends 13 and include a series of bends which position the handles 12perpendicular to the roller and yet apart a distance less than thedistance between the ends 13.

The above described position of the handles constitutes an extremelyimportant feature of my invention. With such an arrangement, the user isable to grip the handles with his hands being spaced apart a distancesubstantially equal to or less than the distance between the end faces13. This enables the user, for example, to roll dough or the like intray forms with a minimum of clearance between the end faces 13 andsides of the tray.

To position the handles as such, the outer shaft sections 15 are bentinto a series of segments leading from the mid section to the handles.The first segments are U-shaped with one leg segment 16 of the U formedas an extension of the mid section. Cross members 17 of the U-shapesthen extend radially from the ends of the midsection at a right anglefrom the midsection, a distance somewhat greater than the radius of theroller. Cross members 17 then lead to other leg segments 18 which extendat right angles to the cross members 17, backwardly, overlapping themidsection 14 to right angle bends 20 which align shaft end sections 21of the shaft perpendicularly to the midsection. The lengths of the legsections 18 overlapping midsection l4 serve to space the end sections 21apart a distance less than the distance between the roller faces.

Handles 12 are mounted to the end sections 21 and extend coaxiallytherefrom perpendicular to the roller.

It should be noted that the shape of the handles 12 are r not to berestricted to the specific: shape illustrated in the drawings. Theelongated handles shown, however, aid the user in applying downward.pressure to the roller.

Other changes and modifications may have also become evident from theabove description and accoma shaft having a straight mid sectionextending through and journalled coaxially within said passage for freerotation of the roller with respect to the shaft;

coplanar outer shaft sections on said shaft outwardly adjacent therespective ends of the roller, said outer shaft sections leading tocoplanar shaft end sections perpendicular to said straight midsection;and

a handle mounted to each shaft end section;

said outer shaft sections each including a first segment formed as anextension of the midsection, extending to a second radial segmentperpendicular to the first segment and extending therefrom radiallyadjacent an end of the roller, extending to a third shaft segmentperpendicular to the second segment and extending inwardly past anadjacent roller end, overlapping and parallel to a portion of the midsection, to the shaft end sections, thereby spacing the handles mountedto the end sections apart a distance less than the distance between theroller ends.

1. A rolling pin comprising: an elongated cylindrical roller having aconstant circular cross-section continuous along a center axis betweenits respective ends; an open passageway extending between the respectiveends of said roller coaxial with said center axis; a shaft having astraight mid section extending through and journalled coaxially withinsaid passage for free rotation of the roller with respect to the shaft;coplanar outer shaft sections on said shaft outwardly adjacent therespective ends of the roller, said outer shaft sections Leading tocoplanar shaft end sections perpendicular to said straight midsection;and a handle mounted to each shaft end section; said outer shaftsections each including a first segment formed as an extension of themidsection, extending to a second radial segment perpendicular to thefirst segment and extending therefrom radially adjacent an end of theroller, extending to a third shaft segment perpendicular to the secondsegment and extending inwardly past an adjacent roller end, overlappingand parallel to a portion of the mid section, to the shaft end sections,thereby spacing the handles mounted to the end sections apart a distanceless than the distance between the roller ends.